


One Way Communication

by vase



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Friendship/Love, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 18:04:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10622244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vase/pseuds/vase
Summary: After the fractured members of team RWBY came together in the kingdom of Mistral, things seemed to be looking up. Yet, when Weiss, Ruby and Blake are called to Yang’s hotel room, they find only a message waiting for them.





	

Ruby had a small smile on her face as she hopped and sprinted her way through the crowded, winding streets of Mistral. The mid-morning sun was warm on her cloaked back and gave the air a crisp feel that reminded her of Patch. 

It was true their investigation into Cinder and her allies had hit a standstill but she was still optimistic. There had been several tense battles and info gathering missions, plus they knew what to expect from last time. Even better, this time they had uncle Qrow and Ozpin, thanks to his weird spirit bond with Oscar, around to help.

Best of all though, RWBY were officially back together!   


'Well,' she internally corrected. 'Not, officially one hundred percent back together but,' she thought grinning, 'Things sure are leaning that way!'

First it had been Yang, arriving on Bumblebee with a shiny new arm and a smile on her face. There had been more than a little gross sobbing on someone's part, Ruby wouldn't say who. Since then, while her sister had apparently overbooked in a different hotel to RNJR, the blonde bruiser visited every night and was helping gather info from the rougher parts of town. It was that very same hotel Ruby was heading towards now, having received a text that Yang wanted to discuss something with the team.

'Team, as in all of us!' Ruby thought giddily. 

Not long after finding Yang, or being found, Ruby and Qrow had bumped into Winter who was looking for Weiss who was looking for her. There had been some gross sobbing on Weiss's part... and maybe Ruby's... Also Qrow and Winter had totally spoiled the moment by fighting. Since then, Weiss had been helping them in their pursuits, along with trying to aid Winter in her's and act as peacemaker between the Atlas Specialist and Huntsmen spy. Ruby did not envy her partner for having to balance all of that.

Finally though there was Blake. Ruby's grin doubled in size as she saw the white coated cat Faunus flickering across some nearby roof's towards Yang's hotel.

To say the reunion with Blake had been awkward would be... accurate, Ruby felt. Sun had been around, and her parents too, plus some other members of Blake's old, new White Fang.

But explanations had been forthcoming, sort of. All Ruby knew was that one of the higher ups in the White Fang, the bad one, were plotting something nasty and Blake had come to stop them. Blake and Weiss had bickered about "responsibility" and "sticking with the team". But in the end it had been Yang who settled the matter and the fact Blake had been trying to protect them by leaving had seemingly made any and all hurt feelings vanish!

"Blake!" Ruby cheered, waving to the older girl.

Blake looked over her shoulder as she slipped through the door of a ratty looking tavern and nodded. Much like Yang, Blake was staying in some safe house with her other allies hence Ruby not quite feeling RWBY was fully reunited yet.

'Plus we barely get to do anything as a team anymore, lame!' She thought. Who knew, maybe that was why Yang had called them? Ruby knew her sister had been working tirelessly solo and with Qrow to gather info and had fought at least one or two battles though... Well Ruby didn't like to think about how shaken Yang had been after the first fight.

Ruby shook her head and marched up the creaking stairs. 'It was just a one off thing, she's fine. Yang's tough, she's not gonna lock herself up like last time,' Ruby affirmed to herself.

Yet when she came up to the door, Blake had come to a halt. There was an odd rigidness to her frame and her ears were twitching. Then she muttered, "Yang's not here," it was said with such a deep sense of fear and dread that Ruby could hardly convey it.

Before Ruby could just blast the door down, Blake snatched the handle and thrust the door open.

Ruby had hoped Blake would be wrong, or that her sister had just stepped out for a minute.

But what met her was a room empty of her sisters presence. There was a small cot and a chair, but no bags, no signs of Yang, save for her Scroll on the foot of the bed and a note held by Weiss, who was facing them with wide eyes.  
"You're, going to want to sit down for this," The former heiress said.  


* * *

'Dammit! Damn me and damn her and damn everything!' Weiss hissed silently to herself. Blake and Ruby were in the room now, looking at her for answers, looking for the final quarter of their team.

'If I'd known last night...' Weiss thought, grinding her teeth as she glanced down at the Scroll then to her teammates worried frowns.

"Weiss, where's Yang?" Ruby asked.

Weiss shook her head, taking the chance to collect herself before speaking. "I don't know... The note just said that we won't see her for awhile-"

"What!?"

Pushing through, Weiss continued, "and to listen to the recording she left you two, with headphones on." Looking down Weiss added, "She left last night, I think around eleven."

"You knew about this?" Blake asked, as an immediate follow up, something like accusation in her tone, or maybe just tension.

Weiss snorted, "Do you think I'd keep something like from all of you? Yang just had the good decency to leave us a message." Seeing Ruby's disappointed frown she sighed and said, "Sorry. Yang did speak to me, it was... Nice. But it wasn't obvious she was leaving, I thought she was just being sappy and was going for a ride."

Weiss gestured to the Scroll, "If we want answers, I guess you'll have to listen to the message she left you."

"No, no we just got back together," Ruby said, panting, eyes flashing wildly. "She can't leave me, she's-. She's Yang. She's my sister!"

Blake's hand clapped down on Ruby's shoulder firmly and Weiss went up to Ruby's other-side to giver her an awkward hug.

"Breath Ruby," Weiss said soothingly, "We'll figure this out, I promise."

Blake released Ruby's shoulder and moved stiffly, almost lurching towards the bed. She dropped down and buried her face in her hands, she sat there un-moving as her chest swelled and sunk with deep, low breaths.

Getting herself under control, Ruby nudged Weiss thankfully. She slowly extricated herself from the hug to sit at the other side of Yang's scroll and the headphones on the bed. "I guess, we need to listen to the message?" She said quietly.

Blake glanced at the Scroll and then turned away, even as her hand edged towards one of the ear plugs.

"Yang left us a message," Weiss said, "The least we can do is listen."

"Didn't you say it was just for us?" Blake retorted roughly, almost like she was trying to hold back tears.

Folding her arms, Weiss said, "Yang wrote in her note that all she needed to say to me alone was said last night. Though apparently there's a message on there we should all listen to but..."

"We're a team," Ruby said, slipping an ear-jack from her pocket and adding it to Yang's Scroll. She offered it up to Weiss and said, "We do this together.

Slowly taking the offered ear-jack, Weiss nodded and, along with Blake, placed it in her ear. Then, with her custom speed of blurring red, Ruby hit play and Yang's voice filled their minds with her familiar high but coarse tones. Yet, there was an undercurrent of shakiness when she spoke, of a roughness or a tightness in the chest that hinted at feelings Yang couldn't keep hidden.

* * *

  
Her words were a little tense, almost halting, like each one took just a bit more effort to escape her lips than they rightly should.

"So, hi there, Ruby, Blake, and probably Weiss too. I'm ah, sorry for not including a direct message to you but, maybe take it as a compliment? It means anything that needs to be said between us I can say to your face... Rather than hiding behind a recording."

It didn't sound like she'd intended that last part to be heard.

"So," a clapping sound rang out, "I don't know if you guys will be thinking. Oh no, what went wrong? Or more along the lines of. What's she's throwing a temper tantrum and moping over now?" Yang froze for a moment before continuing.

"Honestly I can't say myself..."

Sighing, her next words were hoarse, "This was meant to be easy. I had a script and everything but," another breather, softer and quieter.

"I love you all, so much," She said, each word heavy and filled with vibrant emotion. "Though be it," she added, with a strangely choked chuckle, "In very different ways..."

"All right, none of you came here to listen to me ramble so I'll try and keep this short."

Her words were growing swifter, but her voice only became shakier as she spoke.

"Ruby," she said firmly. "Ever since Summer passed away I tried to do well by you. I've always hated myself for almost getting us killed in that forest and I've tried, gods I've tried to my best by you since then. Heck, I had to, Tai was shut down and when Qrow was around he was drunk half the time. Honestly, sometimes I see you as less my sister and... more like a daughter."

There was a sharp intake of breath, not part of the recording but from the audience.

Blake and Weiss's gaze shifted to Ruby who sat nearly frozen and mute.

Her mouth worked to say words she could not give sound to. A haze of memories and half thoughts she'd never been able to give a name to swirled in her mind.

"But then, I don't have any kind of right to take Summer from you like that, sorry." She pauses for a moment, as if collecting herself.

"Blake," She said slowly, "I love you... and I need you to know I don't hate you, and I will never, ever, try to hurt you."

She paused again, licking her lips.

Blake is stiff, the only sign of her inner turmoil is how deeply her nails dig into her knees.  

"I bared my soul to you... I told you thing I'd never shared with anyone else and I was, I am OK with giving my everything for you. Even though I failed you I'd still try..."

She sighed, again.

"So please," there's a hint of a sob in her words. "Please understand that I love you and I don't want to hurt you with this but I-"

Her words are lost, like a mangled tape all that comes through the ear-jacks is strangled choking and sobs.

When she finally speaks again her ton is more level, almost empty.

"I've been trying, ya know? Trying to stop moping, stop being scared and just... Live, day by day, not letting the past hold me down. But, the more time I spend with you two especially, the more I notice my old patterns coming back. I-"

"-I give myself to people I love, I give everything, my time, my body, my soul and I don't regret it but... Gosh I sounds so self indulgent!" She groaned.

"But doing that, doing it all the time is exhausting..." Her breaths were clear as a bell and yet sounded dusty and rough. "I'm so tired... I'm so tired of always having to be OK. Always giving, always needing to be ready for the next fight."

There's a faint rumble, like she's shifting in her seat. "See, here's the thing. Remember those patterns I mentioned before? Well, I'm seeing some others as well. Its not set but I keep asking myself-

"-What if I can't keep it together in a fight? I'll just be left alone again, cos its much easier to go chasing after someone to fight with almost no info than it is to stay and fix someone broken."

Ruby is clutching her tummy, head hanging low and limp.

"What if I'm not strong enough and fail again? Will I die? Will I wake up and find I've been left alone again? Another part of me gone."

Blake's strength seems to vanish and she lets out a shuddering sigh, almost crumpling in on herself.

"I don't know if that'll happen again but at this point, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't," Yang said bluntly. "So long as I'm around other people, people I love I'll keep putting everything into them and then, if I fall and get left behind again... Last time that happened it broke me. If it happens again-"

Her teeth gnash and the sound scuffles unpleasantly like she's gripping the mic.

When she speaks her words sound like they are being choked from her. "If that happens again, then it'll kill me."

There's no sound, not from the audience, not from the Scroll, the world seems to have frozen.

Finally, Yang speaks up again, sounds bitterly amused.

"I guess that's why I wanted to live a life where I never knew what was coming and live around nobody. No one to bury myself in, no one to... I'm sorry, this isn't fair to you. I know you had your reasons, I respect them, I accept them. But please," she says hotly, "Please understand and respect that I can't be around you right now, not when, no matter how much I love you, I can't trust you."

The lines goes dead for a time.

Ruby quietly murmurs her sisters name like a prayer, eyes squeezed shut.

Weiss is silent and solemn as she wraps her partner in a hug.

Blake neither welcomes nor feels she deserves company, instead just letting herself sag in the bed, eyes growing hazy with unshed tears.

The ear-jacks finally crackled and a faint hiccup sounded on the other end. It seemed it wasn't just the audience that was crying. When Yang spoke her words were tired and empty, but almost relieved.

"I'm sorry you had to hear all that, I am sorry I..." She groaned and a little slap rang out as she muttered, "Focus."

"OK, my stuff is done, but you guys still need to know a little more so please, just bare with me. I'm still going to be fighting, in my own way. I'm still going to be looking for answers and I'll help you guys in ways I can, just, from a distance."

"But there's some things I need to know as well, and Ruby this warning especially applies to you, but everyone should listen." Yang takes a deep breath and continues. "We don't know what we're fighting, more than that we don't know 'who' or the 'why' or even 'how' they do what they do, not really. Qrow either can't or won't tell us, same for Ozpin... I'm going to look for answers, I need to understand what we're up against before I can actually fight it."

"That's not the warning though, bnow listen, please. If I have any credibility with you all left just please listen." There's a moment of silence before she speaks again.

"Ruby, I know Qrow loves you, he really does, but whether he realises it or not he did send you off half cocked with barely any information towards people who killed Summer. Yeah, he was in time, he's good at that, but if he was a bit slower, that assassin a bit less cocky, you'd be caught and JNPR would be dead."

Her words are harsh and biting.

"He sent you at them and you didn't even know who they were, or about magic, or any of this stuff. Ozpin brought you into Beacon two years early and I refuse to accept that was just convenient timing, though you did deserve it sweetie, you so did."

"I'm not saying they don't care, or they aren't fighting to protect people, and like I said, Qrow loves you but... We only know what they want us to know. It took being at deaths door for Qrow to tell you anything and Ozpin's hiding up in Oscar's head and we only have their word on how all of this works..."

"I need more than just their word, I need more than just their take on what's happening. I'm no expert but, watch Oscar carefully OK? And as for Qrow, Ruby I know he cares, I can see it every-time he's with you. But just because someone loves you doesn't mean they can't hurt you."

Everyone stills.

"Just because he loves you doesn't mean he doesn't have loyalty to something or someone that trumps that, even if he doesn't realise that. Just, use your best judgements OK. Ozpin could have done more in his time, but he didn't. Qrow could have told more, but he didn't. This has been going on for longer than any of us have been alive and chances are, Summer was taken from us because of it-"

Ruby gasped, pressing herself tighter against Weiss and Blake found enough energy to place a hand upon the smaller girls back.

"That's why I also set this recording to erase itself once its over and wanted you listening with headphones. I got Qrow pretty hammered last night and Oscar's not going anywhere without JNPR but, I didn't want to take chances."

"All right, you're all probably sick of the sound of my voice now so I'll sign off. I'm going any which way all across Mistral, but I have some leads. if I find anything useful, I'll send it your way, otherwise... Please take care of each other. Weiss, Blake, please take care of my baby sister. Ruby, you're a great leader so keep those two close and remember that I am so proud of you. Please, all of you, stay safe."  


“I love you."

* * *

  
All eyes instinctively turn to the Scroll as the telltale erasure animation runs across the screen.

After a second it vanishes and reveals an empty playlist.

Slowly, like gravity's weight had been magnified, they removed their ear-jacks and simply sat, unable or unwilling to move.

Blake's the first to break, ears flats and hands running through her hair faster and faster, mussing it into a mass of tangles. She almost sounds like she's snarling as she throws herself to her feet and stalks to the door.

"Blake!" Weiss shouts as the Faunus yanks the door open.

Blake freezes for just a moment and rasps, "I'm not running I just... Need some time to think." She looks back at Ruby and then to Weiss before back to their leader whose shaking was growing worse. After a moment Weiss nodded and Blake bowed her head in thanks before flickering out of view.

Ruby's next, tears finally bursting from her eyes as she slam her fists down on her legs and lets out a strangled sob. Her shoulders shake and shudder, but when Weiss tries to wrap her partner in a hug but Ruby's practically lurching in her sheet as if whatever is inside her heart is trying to break out.

Running a hand through Ruby's hair like she'd seen Yang do once, Weiss tried to say something, anything! But comforts had been few and far between in her home and she doubted Ruby could even drink a hot chocolate. Finally and desperately she settled on, "Shh, shh, we'll figure this out, Ruby, we can-"

Her hand strokes through Ruby's hair and looses rose petals as the vibrating girl hiccups and wraps herself in her coal, hiding away from the world, and her partner.

"Ruby please, please talk to me," Weiss begs, sliding from the bed and kneeling before the younger girl.

"I- I'm a bad sister," hiccuped.

"Sh, stop that," Weiss said, silently cursing their horrendous situation. "We all know you love Yang."

Shaking her head Ruby looses tears and rose petal and her words are discordant and twisted by her Aura as she speaks. "I know I love her, but Yang was always there for me, for as long as I can remember. She protected me, she read to me, she cooked me food and played my games and always believed in me no matter how much I screwed up. But when she got hurt, what did I do?!"

"Ruby this isn't your fault, this situation wasn't fair on anyone," Weiss insisted, coiling her long fingers through Ruby's by sheer force in a bid to ground the panicking girl. "You were trying to stop-"

"Someone I barely knew anything about!" Ruby said, tearing her hands from Weiss and throwing herself to her feet, pacing in a chaotic circle. "I didn't know the world might be in danger. I didn't know about Maidens, or Salem, or anything about gods or Grimm. I barely had any idea where Cinder was or anything but I left Weiss!" Ruby said, spinning around to face her partner. Her eyes were red and her cheeks puffy as tears ran down her cheeks making her look sick.

When Ruby spoke her words were shaky but brimming with raw hurt and guilt. "I left her Weiss. I left because I had a fight, because I couldn't stand seeing Yang like that, I hated it. I left her alone when she needed me because fighting was easier than trying to help her get better. Because running away was easier than being there for her, even when I stood no chance..."

Ruby's body was wracked with sobs as she sunk deeper into her hood and mumbled, "Some leader... Some sister I am."

Weiss's hands clenched into fists and she bit down on her lip so hard she swore she could taste copper. She wanted to be furious at Yang, to blame Blake,or Cinder, or anyone to make it easier, to make Ruby feel like this wasn't her fault but-

'But she was hurting to... None of this is fair, none of it!'

Finally, she spoke, her tone sharp as ever. "I didn't even notice she was miserable," she said lowly. "I didn't notice she was hiding all that hurt even though I said I'd be the best team mate, even though I was her friend."

"You didn't leave her on purpose!" Ruby wailed.

"So what!?" Weiss shouted, slashing her arm wildly. "I could have fought my father, I could have taken his guards, but I crumpled because Blake was gone, you were out and Yang was a wreck!"

"We all got hurt, we've all been hurt," she hissed, trying to quell the furious beating of her heart. "Whether it was an hateful father, an abusive lover, lost friends and family or being left alone after your world fell apart, we all got hurt, Ruby."

A deep breath escaped her and it felt like ice. Looking Ruby in her glistening silver eyes Weiss said, "And yes, sometimes we hurt people by our own actions, even the one's we love. I'm not going to say we should just ignore that, or pretend like there's a score over who had it worst or why someone did what. Yang needed us and none of us were there for her, but that's all your focusing on Ruby and there was a lot more than that in her message, so listen up."

Weiss knelt before her leader and flipped back the other girls hood. Clutching Ruby's head gently she leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together, her next words were clear but lacking in her usual edge.

"Yang loves you, she loves us. So yes, she's been hurt and more, she needs time to heal. If she has to do that away from us then that's what she has to do. But remember Ruby, she is trying to heal, and if she doesn't come back we can always find her, but she understands that there's a lot going on here, even if some of this goes back further than jut Beacon..."

Weiss sighed, "We can't change the past, but we can change things now and we can fix things Ruby." Slowly, delicately she brought Ruby into a hug. "Its going to be hard, and its going to take time... When we start thinking about how we might have hurt people, even when we had good intentions, we might not like everything we see in ourselves, but," she stressed, tightening her hold. "We can change, we can grow, and when we find Yang again we can fix things. We can all fix things, and every day we try to do better, is a day we get closer to being together again, in a way that's good for all of us."

Ruby's sobs had quieted, she did not return the hug but she buried her face in Weiss's shoulder. Lowly, she murmured, "I need to balance things out between us, how can I do that if she's not here?"

Rubbing circles on Ruby's back, Weiss said, "By remembering what she said, the good, the bad and the advice. Making a decision like this is hard, and there's not always a perfect right way, but I'll be there for you, and when she gets back, or better yet, we find Yang and know she's ready to try and be with us again, we'll make it better together. We're going to get through this. Together, or apart, we'll get through this and come back together, better than ever, we just need time."

Slowly, terribly slowly, Ruby returned her embrace.

* * *

  
Yang's entire body was tensed, sweat ran down her skin as Bumblebee roared beneath her. The cracked and broken path she'd been on had faded long ago giving way to a deep and winding forest.

In front of her, she could make out a town and steeled herself. The pain in her right arm was agonising, tiny sparks running across her skin and making power burn in her gut. When she'd first set off, Yang could feel the flashbacks coming. But the breathing exercises she'd taken to and time to focus kept them at bay.

'I am in control,' She told herself, squeezing the handlebars.

Yang squinted as she saw a strange indent in the ground coming towards her. Snorting, she braced and just as she approached it a steel cable burst from the ground.

Yang threw her body forward but Bumblebee's front wheel was still caught and she was sent hurtling into the sky. Gauntlet clunking and shirring to life, Yang let loose a fiery blast that sent her higher with a jolting blast of force. Her metallic arm tingled and shocked her skin, the pain gave her strength, feeding the fire that burned inside her.

As she began to descend, Yang saw the town below and rough looking figures atop ruined buildings. Letting the wind rush around her, Yang flung herself back and kicked off of Bumblebee, sending her beloved bike hurtling towards the centre of the town.

Unleashing another cracking shot from Ember Celica, Yang flung herself into the sky.

A cascade of bullets and arrows flew towards her and Yang spun herself around with one sharp jab, batting away the first offenders. With that she let out a furious roar and began to fire. Her shots were caked in golden flames and tore through the air with a draconic roar.

Each shot kept her in the sky for just a moment longer as bullets cracked against her aura and tore through her hair. Spinning int he air, Yang continued to draw her arm back like a jackhammer and fired. More and more shots rained down, leaving craters in the street while blasting through roofs and walls.

'Last four shots!' Yang threw her left arms behind her and squeezed the trigger. With a violent crack she sent herself spinning down. Eyes flashing red and Aura bursting from her skin she impacted like a comet in the village centre. The ground beneath her gaveway, burning and exploding as a mighty shock wave exploded across the streets, tearing up pavement and sending the less wary bandits onto their backs.

Keeping her head low, Yang rose up, flames roiling around her and hair awash with golden energy. Every muscle tensed and her Aura coiling like a spring, she breathed in and out.

'I am in control.' The flame inside her grew, the pain and damages done to her burned and filled her, swelling her Aura and muscles, kindling her flames.

Loudly she bellowed, "You have one chance to surrender!"

There was a moment of quiet, and then a stream of chuckles and guffaws.

Yang looked up, her eyes hidden by her flowing golden hair, towards the nearest bandit. In brown clothes covered in patches he wielded a machine gun and a mish mash of daggers strapped to his body. His black hair was shortly cut and his face was almost cherubic.

He was the one who spoke, shoulders shaking as he said. "I think you've misunderstood something here miss. Its you who will be surrendering to us. Your bike, that fancy arm, the clothes off your back," he licked his lips and added, "yourself."

Spitting, Yang said, "Seems my uncles wasn't exaggerating, despite the booze." She tried not to let the sickness coiling in her gut show in her words or on her face. She'd prepared herself for the worst, and in the end, she hadn't come here for closure, 'I can unpack this later, right now I need action,'. The dirt in her crater coiled around her feet, the temperature was rising and the ruined stones closest to her began to hiss and bubble.

"Now then, if you don't surrender..." he continued, cocking his gun.

Yang clenched her teeth, bones, muscles and soul flared and pulsated with power as her golden Aura shone. Her power flowed all through the earth, singing in the fires she'd born, filling the Dust in the craters and burst from her lost shreds of hair.

She could hear someone rushing at her from behind, and the fire grew.

Throwing her arms up, Yang let out a furious howl and slammed her arms down.

Behind her, a battle cry was cut off by a fires roar as a stream of fire and magma exploded behind her in a violent geyser.

Hissing, Yang slammed her foot down, and watched as the flames flared upwards, veins of fire cracked the ground. massive chunks of the street heaved up in a blur and the grounds rumbling grew to a raucous, earth shaking boom as liquid fire and golden flames exploded across the ruined town.

The bandits howled and screamed as the ground turned against them and their vision was filled with flames. Another powerful shock wave upturned more earth and sent many of the fighters hurtling though the air.

Seeing the fire spires and flames roared all around her, Yang kicked off towards the nearest opponent. She slammed one boot into his leg with a crack.  
Off balance he was helpless as she drove her knee into his face and kicked off from his chest, launching him into a collapsing house with a crash.

The flames rose and roared, she could smell Beacon burning, Blake's cries were moments away. Yang froze and hissed.

"I am in control."

The flames born from her soul roared in agreement.

* * *

  
Martello was gasping and gagging as he stumbled through the flames. His right foot was in agony after he'd stepped in magma, half his arm was burnt to a crisp from the first flame spire.

"Shit, shit!" he cursed, "That little bitch!" he scrambled and slashed his arms in a bid to cut through the flames. He could hear the others shouting, and scrambling to escape. Smoke was filling the air and it stung his lungs.

"Ah!" Another foot of pavement swung upwards as flames burst from it like a wave.

"Damn it!" The hair, the Dust shells, the Shock wave... She'd been laying the groundwork to turn the entire battlefield into this nightmare!

A spark flickered into his gun and before Martello could even think it exploded in his hands. Letting out a cry of pain, he staggered back, eyes wide as he looked for an escape, for help. 'This isn't supposed to happen!' Some part of him screamed, his smoldering hands barely twitching as his Aura raced to heal the damage even while fighting off the flames.

'If this keeps up, if this keeps up then-' He froze, memories of their mistresses credo haunting his mind.

'Only the strong survive.'

"No, no!"

A furious gout of flames exploded right before his eyes. Falling back onto the scorching hoot ground he tried to crawl backwards. That was, until the shining red eyes poked from the flames and a barely visible, familiar face.

Throwing himself towards her he cried, "Boss! I-"

A hand shot out and encircled his neck with enough force he was left gagging. Lifted up he saw her step from the flames, golden hair instead of black, a younger face though just as focused. Her red eyes shone like a Grimms.

"Now," she spat, flames flicking from her tongue. "Tell me who this boss is?"

* * *

  
The man before her was shaking, in fact, Yang noticed he'd wet himself. Grunting in disgust she gave a sharp wave with her left hand and sucked in the burning air around her. The flames began to drop, the geysers quieting as she surveyed the molten, fiery pit she'd reduced the town to.

The bandits weren't dead, it took more than that to kill those with Aura. But they were burnt, and charred, and trapped under melted stone or collapsed buildings. Some still staggered around, coughing and cringing away form the flames while a few managed to scatter into the woods. They'd survive her, the Grimm, or their 'boss' Yang couldn't say.

Yet before she could begin anything like questioning, her senses screamed at her, there was a sound, someone walking, too calmly behind her. Spinning around, Yang hurled her prisoner in their direction, but then continued her spiral and kicked off from the glowing hot ground just as a red sword slashed down where she'd been standing.

Coming to a skidding halt near a burnt out building, Yang bit her tongue at the black haired, Grimm-masked figure before her.

'I am in control!' Yang told herself, even as her insides did flop slops and scrunched in on themselves in fear and anger and grief.  
Deep breaths.

'I am in control,' Yang told herself again, stepping towards the woman who was slowly removing her Grimm mask.

In and out, in and out.

This woman had not raised her, had not loved her, had given Yang life and a brief reprieve and tried to undo both just moment before. Yang would not let this woman control her.

'I am in control.'

She came to a stop before her birth mother as the woman looked towards her with sunken, shadowed eyes and a bemused sort of half frown. She gestured to the flames and her ruined allies and said, "Something your father taught you at school?" she asked coyly.

"No," Yang retorted, "I used this same trick on a gang awhile back. It was less extreme then, but bandits deserve better than leg breakers."

Raven regarded her coolly and said, "We have much to talk about, it seems."

"Maybe, but there's really only one thing I want to discuss with you. The rest can just come from that," Yang said firmly, hands clenching, the sweat was back, but her heart was steady.

Raven rolled her shoulder and said, "Why I left?" with a sort of disgusted wariness, like she was dealing with an student who just refused to learn.

"Who are Salem and Ozpin?" Yang almost smirked at the look of shock plastered on Raven's face.

This was only the beginning.

* * *

 

Notes:   
I’d like to thank Storyteller for being an awesome beta reader on this. 


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